Global Courts and the Trayvon Martin Case

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South Africa: Is a Gun Proportional to Fists?

Jonathan Burchell, professor of criminal law at South Africa’s University of Cape Town, said, to claim self-defense, Trayvon's shooter, George Zimmerman, would have to prove that he was reasonably threatened by Trayvon and that he used proportional force in defending himself against an attack.

“There is no duty to flee in South African law, but if there are reasonable alternatives available the accused should use these before resorting to lethal force,” Burchell told NBC News.